The Other Spies
by John Row
Summary: So you know all about the spies for the commonwealth, but what about the spies for the nobility?
1. Prologue Part 1

In the slums of the commonwealth, two boys on a rooftop eyed a small abandoned store across the street from them. The altitude they were at would make most people uneasy, but both of them didn't show the slightest hint of nervousness as one pulled out a small telescope.  
"Do you think the defector will come through here?" One said to the other.  
"Not sure, but if they do we will sure as hell see them." The other replied. A flickering in the distance caught the first boys eyes and he quickly focused on it.  
"March says they're on the way." The second boy nodded and slid down the other side of the roof. The sun was setting, and lampposts were beginning to light up all across the city. Though the area they were in was still very much in darkness. The boy closed his telescope and put it back in its resting spot on the roof under some of the roof panels. He peeked inside and, to his dismay, found the chocolate he had stashed was missing.  
"Damn you Isaac." He muttered, eyeing the direction his comrade had just gone. More flickering in the distances prompted him to pull the telescope back out.  
"Miles….be...careful….potential...trap" He said as he read the code. He scowled as he once again put the telescope back. He pulled out a small piece of cavorite in a flask and signaled back.  
"I...will….be." He made a mental note to remind March later to not use names when signaling. It was a waste of time, time that he knew she could be using better. His train of thought was interrupted when he saw a small shadow dart out an alley and began heading towards the store. It was small, and the supposed defector was supposed to be an elderly man. Miles eyed the figure as they moved closer to store. He knew whoever was trying to trap him was confident, otherwise they would've tried harder to look like the wore a long brown cloak covering their entire body and obscuring their face. Miles put on his bowler hat and pulled up his face mask as the figure entered the shop. He pulled up his shirt sleeves to reveal two clockwork apparatus' on his wrists. They seemed tame enough, but on closer inspection it was clear that they sunk unnaturally into his skin. He flicked a few tiny switches and they let off a soft green glow. He pulled his sleeves back down as his eyes began glowing a similar green.  
"Mission start." He said as he deftly leapt off the side of the building.

Miles opened the stores front door, making little effort to enter quietly. If it was a trap, there was no point trying to hide his intention to trip it. His green tinted vision made things slightly easier to see despite the pitch blackness of the area. He stood at the entrance and looked around. The store was barren, but there was slight shuffling on the other side of a door behind the counter, and candlelight was seeping from beneath it. Miles walked around the counter and stood in front of the door. He knew the layout of the building, and that most likely the enemy would be waiting right around the corner with a gun. Would they shoot him first, or try to get information out of him? It was a gamble to just enter nonchalantly, but if he could get information out of them if they went with the latter. He took a deep breath and opened the door.  
"Don't move." He had barely taken his first step before a pistol was put against his head. He glanced to the right to find that the one holding a pistol was….a masked girl? He looked at her as he instinctively put his hands up. Her outfit was rather bizarre. Skin tight top, with a ruffled skirt and a top hat. She motioned the gun and he took a few more steps forward as she shut the door behind them.  
"So uh, I'm guessing you're not the defector?" Miles asked.  
"No, just a passing extra terrestrial."  
"Terrawhat?"  
"I'm from the black lizard planet." Miles was rather dumbfounded. Black lizard planet? What was that? A codename? An alias?  
"So uh-"  
"And you…" She said, putting the barrel of her gun against the back of his head. "Are from the white lizard planet." The way she said it made Miles swallow hard, it was obviously no compliment. Then he got it.  
"Oh, your a commonwealth spy." She didn't respond but Miles chuckled. "I didn't know they recruited kids."  
"You aren't much older than me are you?" She said, slightly agitated.  
"Nah, can't you tell, I'm in my late twenties." Miles said, turning his head ever so slightly to look back at her. She showed no signs of putting down the gun, but he wasn't focused on the gun. Hopefully it would happen soon…  
"Liar." She said, the earlier agitation already gone.  
"We're both spies. It's our jo-" At that moment the stores front door opened.  
"Miles you done here?" Isaac called out. The girl turned around rapidly and Miles grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder. The entire back wall of the store gave away as the girl crashed through it. Isaac burst through the door as the dust settled. To Miles' surprise, the girl was standing upright, perfectly fine in the debris left from the wall.  
"How di-" Before he could finish his sentence, the girl pulled something from behind her back. A small round metal ball. She began glowing green, and before Isaac or Miles could react, she jumped onto the building behind her and took off.  
"Cavorite?" Isaac said, dumbfounded.  
"I'm going after her!" Miles yelled as the green glow in his eyes began to intensify. He felt the weightlessness take hold, and he jumped after the girl before Isaac could object.


	2. Prologue Part 2

March hopped down from her vantage point. She knew she should've made her way towards the shop as soon as she suspected a trap, but she trusted Miles to adapt to whatever came his way. He always did. That was her stance until she heard the crashing. She hopped onto her motorcycle and started the engine. At that moment a car whizzed past her on the street, heading towards the shop. The driver, a woman wearing goggles, exchanged looks with March in the split second they were across from each other. Her intent was clear. They were going to the shop too. March revved the engine and sped after the car. She quickly began gained on it, and they both flew past the shop. Obviously she wasn't bothering to pick up whoever was there. As March sped past, Isaac flew through one of the front windows. Barely missing her. As she kept going, in one of her mirrors she saw him brandishing his knives as a masked child wielding a thin sword jumped out the window after him.

Isaac was used to fighting someone else who used blades, but this kid was something else. Her weird hat made it almost impossible to see where she was looking, and she moved like lightning.  
"So uh, nice sword?" Isaac said as he twirled his knives in his hands.  
"Silence." A distinctly foreign accent cut through his attempt at banter. She charged him and he just barely managed to block her blade. He was at a significant disadvantage if he couldn't close the distance between them, his knives were far shorter than her blade. All he could do for now was block. He was barely surviving when he managed to catch her blade between both of his knives, he quickly twisted them and threw them upward, disarming him and the girl.  
"Bastard!" She yelled out as he stepped back and grabbed two more knives from his belt. He lunged forward but the girl deftly dodged all his slashes before kicking him in the chest. He rolled backwards and regained his footing as his knives and her sword clattered to the ground between them. They stood silently, staring each other down.  
"You dropped that, want me to pick it up for you miss?" Isaac mocked.  
"Hmph." The girl mumured, obviously not amused, instead pulling a small holed sphere from behind her back.  
"Fu-" Isaac barely had time to finish his sentence before she threw it and it let out massive amounts of gas. He jumped backwards into the safety of a nearby alley as he heard two vehicles approaching, one of them distinctly familiar.

March had been chasing this car, but was gaining no ground. The damn thing was probably slower than her bike, but the driver was making it impossible to close the distance between them. First she had thrown some sort of flash device out, which March just barely managed to shoot before nearly crashing. She dropped her gun there as well, leaving her only option to simply chase them down. They had been in this stalemate for what felt like an eternity, weaving between alleys and streets before March realized they were now heading back towards the shop. What was this lady up to?

The two vehicles roared past Isaac as he retreated out of the gases range. When the gas had dissipated, the girl was gone, along with her sword. Isaac cursed as he threw his fist into the ground out of frustration.

March had barely managed to keep from crashing when she went through the smoke, but once again had to slow down, losing more distance between her and the car. When she caught sight of it again, she realized there was now a passenger. The sword wielding girl. She worried for a moment that Isaac may be dead, but the girls unbloodied blade told her she didn't need to worry. She realized they were now heading straight for the wall. Something in the sky caught her eye: two green dots were seemingly colliding and separating continuously above the distant rooftops near the wall.

Miles had never fought someone with the same abilities as him, but this girl definitely hadn't either. They had both emptied their revolvers before he had managed to catch up to her, neither of them landing a scratch on the other. At first he had hesitated to engage while in the air, but she showed no signs of slowing down to let them fight on the ground. Their current bout ended with Miles getting the wind knocked out of him with a knee to the chest. He landed and quickly shot up after her, this time grabbing her wrist as she went for a punch and flipping over her, using his momentum to hurl her downwards. She landed hard, but regained her footing easily. She didn't activate the cavorite device, so Miles had no choice but to land across from her. They had winded up on a rooftop near the wall. Both were out of breath, running on nothing but fumes. He was about to rush forward again when he felt a bout of nausea. He cursed as he stumbled to the ground. How long had he been using his abilities for? It occurred to him he hadn't even taken that into account when he chased after the girl. He internally cursed more as he rolled up his sleeves and flicked the switches on his bracelets off. They were burning into his skin, but he barely felt it from the all the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He convulsed and vomited before collapsing to the ground, losing consciousness.

March had lost sight of the two green dots as she continued her chase. She was still having trouble gaining on them when a figure glowing green flew out of the sky and into the back of the car. March looked up, expecting Miles to fly in as well, but when he didn't she immediately hit the brakes and began scanning the sky. She felt panic set in as she began heading back to the shop for Isaac. Surely Miles wasn't dead….was he?


	3. Foreigners Part 1

Miles slowly regained consciousness and took in his surroundings. Isaac was leafing through a newspaper and mumbling about race horses while March was passed out at the foot of the bed, lightly drooling on the sheets. Miles breathed a sigh of relief. Some things never change. That was when he realized both his wrists were heavily bandaged. He tried moving them, only to be met with immense pain. He groaned and Isaac realized he was awake.  
"Morning, did your highness sleep well?" He said swiftly folding up the newspaper. Miles rolled his eyes.  
"Spare me the jokes and tell me what the damage is."  
"The mission fallout or the damage to your arms?" Isaac seemed genuinely concerned about the latter, though Miles knew he would never admit to actually caring about anything.  
"Both." He replied seriously.  
"Mission fallout was actually minimal. The enemy spies got away, and you were found on a roof with your face planted in your own vomit." Isaac couldn't help but smirk slightly while bringing it up, despite knowing the severity of such a situation. Miles grimaced as the image of him in that position popped into his head.  
"March was the one who found you, and was in a complete panic when I arrived." Isaac smirked once again as he motioned to the still sleeping girl. Miles put his face in his palm. While reliable, once she panicked March was next to useless. They needed to work on that.  
"And my arms?" Miles said, the initial pain gone, leaving him able to pull both his arms up in front of him.  
"The cavorite bracers gave you some severe burns, so you won't be able to use them for awhile. Boss is trying to find a way to make them work better, but none of the scientists seem to have any way to stop the heat or the...poisoning." Isaac looked away as he said that last word. Miles clenched his fist, accidentally resulting in another bout of pain.  
"Damn, our trump card is out of commission." He muttered. Isaac let out a sigh.  
"You know, if March heard you say that she would probably go nuts right?" Miles cocked his head in response and Isaac shook his head.  
"So how long have I been here?" Miles asked.  
"Not long, it's just been one night. You won't be able to come back to school until tomorrow when they finish treating the burns. I suggest you come up with a good reason for the burns in the meantime. The bandages are going to draw attention. Now if you will excuse me, me and my sister need to get to class." Isaac said as he walked over to the other side of the bed and pulled March up by her shirt collar.  
"Gehuahwhat?" She mumbled as she abruptly awoke, then upon seeing Miles awake, her eyes widened.  
"Miles! You're awake I'm s-" She said as she tried to rush forward and hug him, but Isaac quickly pulled her collar back and began dragging her out of the hospital room much to her dismay.  
"Classes now, happy reunion later, and wipe that drool of your face." He said in his best authoritative big brother voice as they left the room. Miles chuckled and breathed another sigh of relief. Some things never change.

"And so that is how my first attempt at cooking went." Miles said, motioning to his bandages as he concluded his story. His classmates murmured a mixture of amusement and pity, and Miles saw Isaac shake his head out of the corner of his eye, but the rest of the class didn't seem to think much of it.  
"We always just have our maid or butler prepare our food. Not much point in doing it ourselves if we don't have to." One classmate chimed in as the teacher entered the room and they dispersed to their desks.  
"Class, I have some special news for you. You have probably noticed the open desk near the door, and today it is being filled by an exchange student from America!" The teacher motioned to the still open door and a girl entered. The teacher began introducing her but Miles ignored it. There was something off about this girl that made him on edge. He slowly reached into his desk and pulled out a pen. The teacher had just directed the girl to her desk when Miles made his move. He threw the pen straight at her head. In one swift motion the girl pulled her head back and caught it with her hand as it passed her. There was a moment of silence in the room, even the teacher being somewhat taken aback by the display.  
"Uh. Thanks I guess?" The girl said sarcastically, flipping the pen around. As she haughtily walked past him.  
"Oh, uh... Yeah I just heard that Yanks had really good reflexes...so I decided to test it out!" Miles managed to stammer out. He sat down, feeling the eyes of the whole class on him as the American went to her seat. Despite the massive embarrassment he suffered, he had managed to confirmed one thing: That girl was not just a normal foreigner.

"So uh...You mind explaining what that little stunt was in class today?" Isaac asked as he and Miles walked back to the dorms.  
"You saw her reaction."  
"I did."  
"So you know why I did it." Isaac shook his head.  
"Look, just because you suspect someone is suspicious doesn't mean you have to act on it. Imagine if she hadn't caught it like she did. You'd probably be in detention right now." Miles shrugged in response.  
"We were taught to trust our instincts. That's what I did." Isaac continued shaking his head as he pulled several letters out of his bag.  
"Another mission?"  
"Yup. I'll have to decode them once we get back. Looks like it'll be another late night." Isaac looked down at Miles' still bandaged wrists.  
"I'll be fine, really." Miles assured him.  
"Yeah I'm not the one you'll need to be convincing." He said, a wry smile spreading across his lips.

By the time Miles and Isaac climbed onto the dorm rooftop, March was already there.  
"So is Cecilia your type?" She said, not bothering to turn and face them.  
"Cecilia? Oh the foreigner. Don't you start getting on my case about it too. I suspected she wasn't normal and I confirmed it. End of story."  
"Now is not the time for a lovers quarrel you two."  
"They started it." Miles and March said at the same time. Isaac rolled his eyes.  
"Are you sure you should be going out with your wrists in the state they are in?" March asked as they began jumping rooftop to rooftop towards their destination.  
"They're fine." Miles replied, not wanting to admit that they were stinging a little every time he used them while landing.


	4. Foreigners Part 2

It didn't take them that long to reach their base of operations. They slipped in through the usual lit hotel window into the usual dimly lit room with the usual four characters sitting around a table discussing usual business. The only one who noticed them slip in was the one who trained them, Raven. Despite all their time doing this, they still had yet to surprise him even once.  
"They're here." He said, gathering the other adults attention. Understanding his meaning, they turned to the trio who had just entered.  
"Glad to see your doing well despite your reported encounter, M1." Raven said, unreadable as always. He held up his arm and tapped his wrists, motioning for Miles to come closer. Miles did so and Raven pulled up his sleeve. He inspected the burns while Miles tried to keep a poker face, but after Raven suddenly gripped them directly, Miles couldn't help but let out a tiny cry of pain. Raven looked over to March and Isaac, who were both fidgeting awkwardly.  
"Raven, enough." One of the men seated at the table ordered. Raven let go of Miles, who went to rejoin March and Isaac.  
"You should have your men create less volatile contraptions Flask." The same man said, addressing another at the table.  
"Progress requires risk, Bones. We were able to gather valuable data." Flask replied.  
"Still, it's in our best interest to not have wounded spies going out on missions." The fourth seated character, a woman, chimed in.  
"Matron, you need to accept that risk is part of their job." Flask replied.  
"Can we continue?" Raven interjected agitatedly. The four of them fell silent before Bones spoke up.  
"As you know, our agency is mainly sided with the Nobility, in no small part due to your parents. With that in mind, if we want to switch sides should the tips scale out of our favor, we will need every ally we can have. Your parents are somewhat sympathetic to the Commonwealth, but we must not switch sides unless absolutely necessary. So the first of several allies we will be acquiring is this one." He slid a picture to their end of the table and Miles picked it up. It was of a tall man, entering a large building with an American flag hanging over it's entrance.  
"That man is the new ambassador from the United States, and as such wields a substantial amount of influence. We need you to make contact and acquire his cooperation, by any means necessary." Raven finished the explanation, but Miles was too focused on the picture. The ambassador wasn't the only person in the picture, he was holding a young girls hand. It was Cecilia. Raven noticed Miles' slight lapse of apprehension.  
"Miles, is something the matter?" Miles was about to respond when Isaac interrupted.  
"The girl in the picture is our new classmate." He said as Miles handed the photo to Bones.  
"Ah yes, his niece. She is living with him." Bones said as he looked at the photo.  
"Is there something about her you think we should know?" Raven asked.  
"She's a spy." Miles responded abruptly. Raven raised an eyebrow.  
"Are you sure about this?" He said as he leaned forward, furrowing his brow.  
"Probably." Miles said, not sounding half as confident as he had hoped.  
"I hope your suspicion isn't from any….unconventionally found information. That school wasn't easy to get you in." Matron asked suspiciously.  
"He threw a pen at her." March spoke up for the first time, and Matron shook her head in disappointment.  
"Honestly…."  
"Not sure what you could've learned from something so mundane, but I trust your judgement." Raven replied. "If that is the case, be cautious during this mission, we don't know what foreign spies are capable of. Intelligence gathering is your first priority, but do not move forward with any actual infiltrations before having them approved by us. This mission will require a deft touch. We expect them to be our allies within a week. Good luck."  
"Understood." the three of them said as they saluted.  
"Dismissed." Raven said as Miles, Isaac, and March turned to head back out the window.  
"Oh, and Miles." Raven called out, prompting Miles to turn back after Isaac and March had already left. Raven was already right behind him without any of them realizing it. Miles stumbled back a step. Raven let out a rather sinister looking grin.  
"Know where your gun is at _all_ times." He said as he held out Miles' revolver. Miles instinctively grasped his holster, only to realize it was empty. Raven let out a small chuckle as Miles begrudgingly took it back. Miles swore internally he would get the old man back one of these days before going after Isaac and March.


	5. Foreigners Part 3

Cecilia was about to walk into the classroom when Miles approached her.  
"Hi." He said, trying his best to sound casual. It wasn't a very convincing act. Cecilia stopped in front of the door and raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Hi…" She replied, mocking his rather awkward greeting.  
"Meet me behind the gym after school is out." Miles said so fast that it was practically a slur of words. God he hated social interactions, and the nature of this one didn't make it any easier. Cecilia grinned widely.  
"Hm. I thought brits were more tact but whatever works for you I guess." She said as she opened the door and entered, leaving Miles silently standing there, mentally smashing his head into the wall.

"So …..are we going to go watch the embassy after school?" Isaac asked as Miles, March, and him sat in the garden eating their lunch. It was a quiet place, a small patio area in between a large field and pond. March was carefully eyeing any students who seemed to be heading their way, but all stayed near the school buildings, nowhere near listening distance. Miles was gazing out at the water absentmindedly. Isaac tapped lightly on the table to get their attention, certain that they heard him  
"Can't. I'm meeting Cecilia after school." Miles said, turning back just in time to see tea spurt out of March's nose. Both stared as she began coughing profusely. Isaac motioned for Miles to help her, making sure she didn't see it. Isaac grabbed some of the napkins they had brought with them and handed them to March while wiping the table where most of the tea she had been drinking had ended up.  
"Elaborate." Isaac said in a slightly agitated tone as March blew her nose.  
"I'm going to ask her if she's a spy. If she is then she will probably have realized that I am one as well, and we can skip any risky actions that might hurt our relationship with the embassy."  
"Or she could try to kill you." March pointed out, her voice a little hoarse.  
"She wouldn't do that." Miles responded before thinking for a moment. "...would she…?"  
"It's a definite possibility. We don't know exactly how foreign agents operate in comparison to us, and I'm sure Raven wouldn't hesitate to try and kill you if he was in Cecilias shoes." Isaac answered. Miles realized he was probably right, and began feeling glad he had brought it up.  
"You shouldn't go." March quickly interjected. "It's far too dang-" Isaac rolled his eyes before interrupting.  
"If she agreed there's no reason to not go. If you're on guard it's unlikely she'll be able to try anything directly after school, and if she's not a spy you can laugh it off as a joke or give a really half hearted attempt at asking her out that she will definitely shoot down."  
"Hey how do you know she will shoot me down?" Miles replied.  
"Oh for the love of-" Isaac began, rolling his eyes again.  
"You can't go having a girlfriend right now! That would totally ruin things!" March yelled, standing up, her face getting redder by the second. Realizing her outburst, she quickly sat back down and dropped her head onto the table. Miles couldn't help but smile at the cute display.  
"Yeah I guess it would get in the way of being a spy." He said, shrugging.  
"Yup. Exactly that." March grumbled, face still planted on the table. Isaac leaned back in his chair.  
"Well this should be interesting..." He thought for a moment before standing up and making his way back to the school buildings.  
"Isaac?" Miles called out as Isaac walked away, lost in thought.  
"Just gonna check something. No worries." He called back before transitioning into a light jog back towards the buildings.  
"Do you think the school uniform alters his brain somehow? Like some weird psychological thing?" Miles asked, addressing the still faceplanted March.  
"No, my brother is just very committed to his facades." March replied, finally peeling her face off the table. "He puts on a school uniform, he's a model student. He puts on a mask, he's a wisecracking spy." Miles nodded knowingly.  
"Considering how easy you are to read it's hard to believe your siblings."  
"Humph." March turned her head dramatically.  
"That's a compliment. If it was just me and him I don't think things would ever go as well as they do." March smiled softly.  
"Yeah, despite all the gunfights, life threatening missions, and on top of all of that: school, we always seem to get through everything." They sat in a content silence, finishing their meals.  
"I just wish father was as kind to you as you are to me." March said sadly.  
"Don't worry about it. I accepted his disapproval of my existence awhile ago." Miles said patting her on the shoulder. She smiled softly again.  
"Look at me. Getting all down over stuff from so long ago." She mumbled before standing up and stretching.  
"Time to get back to class. Don't want to be late!" She said, already back to her happy self. Miles couldn't help but let out a large grin as she skipped away.  
"I'm gonna leave you behiiii~nd!" She called out.  
"Alright alright I'm coming!" Miles said, grabbing all his things before running after her.


	6. Foreigners Part 4

Cecilia was about to walk into the classroom when Miles approached her.  
"Hi." He said, trying his best to sound casual. Cecilia stopped in front of the door and raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Hi…" She replied, mocking his rather awkward greeting.  
"Meet me behind the gym after school is out." Miles said so fast that it was practically a slur of words. God he hated social interactions, and the nature of this one didn't make  
it any easier. Cecilia grinned widely.  
"Hm. I thought brits were more tact but whatever goes I guess." She said as she opened the door and entered, leaving Miles silently standing there, mentally smashing his head into the wall.

"So …..are we going to go watch the embassy after school?" Isaac asked as Miles, March, and him sat in the garden eating their lunch. It was a quiet place, a small patio area past the schoolyard right on the edge of a small pond. March was carefully eyeing any students who seemed to be heading their way, but all stayed near the school buildings, nowhere near listening distance. Miles was gazing out at the water absentmindedly. Isaac tapped lightly on the table to get their attention, certain that they heard him  
"Can't. I'm meeting Cecilia after school." Miles said, turning back just in time to see tea spurt out of March's nose. Both stared as she began coughing profusely. Isaac motioned for Miles to help her, making sure she didn't see it. Isaac grabbed some of the napkins they had brought with them and handed them to March while wiping the table where most of the tea she had been drinking had ended up.  
"Elaborate." Isaac said in a slightly agitated tone as March blew her nose.  
"I'm going to ask her if she's a spy. If she is then she will probably have realized that I am one as well, and we can skip any risky actions that might hurt our relationship with the embassy."  
"Or she could try to kill you." March pointed out, her voice still a little hoarse from the earlier incident.  
"She wouldn't do that." Miles responded before thinking for a moment. "...would she…?"  
"It's a definite possibility. We don't know exactly how foreign agents operate in comparison to us, and I'm sure Raven wouldn't hesitate to try and kill you if he was in Cecilias shoes." Isaac answered. Miles realized he was probably right, and began feeling glad he had brought it up.  
"You shouldn't go." March quickly interjected. "It's far too dang-" Isaac rolled his eyes before interrupting.  
"If she agreed there's no reason to not go. If you're on guard it's unlikely she'll be able to try anything directly after school, and if she's not a spy you can laugh it off as a joke or give a really half hearted attempt at asking her out that she will definitely shoot down."  
"Hey how do you know she will shoot me down?" Miles replied.  
"Oh for the love of-" Isaac began, rolling his eyes again.  
"You can't go having a girlfriend right now! That would totally ruin things!" March yelled, standing up, her face getting redder by the second. Realizing her outburst, she quickly sat back down and dropped her head onto the table. Miles couldn't help but smile at the cute display.  
"Yeah I guess it would get in the way of being a spy." He said, shrugging.  
"Exactly." March grumbled, face still planted on the table. Isaac leaned back in his chair.  
"Well this should be interesting." He thought for a moment before standing up and making his way back to the school buildings.  
"Isaac?" Miles called out as Isaac walked away, lost in thought.  
"Just gonna check something. No worries." He called back before transitioning into a light jog back towards the buildings.  
"Do you think the school uniform alters his brain somehow? Like some weird psychological thing?" Miles asked, addressing the still faceplanted March.  
"No, my brother is just very committed to his facades." March replied, finally peeling her face off the table. "He puts on a school uniform, he's a model student. He puts on a mask, he's a wisecracking spy." Miles nodded knowingly.  
"Considering how easy you are to read it's hard to believe your siblings."  
"Humph." March turned her head dramatically.  
"That's a compliment. If it was just me and him I don't think things would ever go as well as they do." March smiled softly.  
"Yeah, despite all the gunfights, life threatening missions, and on top of all of that: school, we always seem to get through everything." They sat in a content silence, finishing their meals.  
"I just wish father was as kind to you as you are to me." March said sadly.  
"Don't worry about it. I accepted his disapproval of my existence awhile ago." Miles said patting her on the shoulder. She smiled softly again.  
"Look at me. Getting all down over stuff from so long ago." She mumbled before standing up and stretching.  
"Time to get back to class. Don't want to be late!" She said, already back to her happy self. Miles couldn't help but let out a large grin as she skipped away.  
"I'm gonna leave you behiiii~nd!" She called out.  
"Alright alright I'm coming!" Miles said, grabbing all his things before running after her.

Miles glanced nervously at his pocket watch. She was late. He hadn't expected to be this nervous, considering he wasn't actually asking her out. It's not that she wasn't pretty or anything but-  
"Hey" Miles jumped and assumed a fighting stance only to realize it was Cecilia. He quickly shook his head and placed his face in his palm. This was already a disaster.  
"I also heard brits were quick to pick fights but I wasn't exactly expecting that when I came back here." She said, smirking.  
"That wasn't-... I didn't mean to-"  
"God you are a mess. Out with it." She crossed her arms, still smiling, clearly amused by Miles social ineptitude. He took a deep breath.  
"You're a spy aren't you? From America?" Cecilia's smile vanished in an instant. Her arms stayed cross and she had stiffened, her easy going demeanor gone. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she smiled and burst into laughter.  
"A spy?! Are you kidding me?" Miles joined in on the laughter, and was about to drop his guard when Cecilia swiftly pulled a revolver out of her school bag. Reacting quickly, he grabbed the handle and wrenched it out of her hand. She quickly threw her bag at his face, causing him to lose his grip on the gun and sending it flying. Miles quickly recovered just in time to duck under a spinning kick that would've hit him square in the head. He was still slightly off balance, and she clearly was skilled as she immediately followed up with a flurry of punches he barely managed to avoid while regaining his footing. He was just about to launch a counter when-  
"Hey is someone back here?" A students voice came from around the corner. Cecilia and Miles froze dead in their tracks. They both knew that the two of them back here would raise suspicions if they had no reason, and while the gun was slightly hidden by the grass, they needed to get rid of whoever it was fast before they noticed it. Their eyes locked, and in that split second they both had the same idea. Just as the student rounded the corner, Miles pulled Cecilia around, pushed her up against the wall, and kissed her. The student rounded the corner at that exact moment and gasped at the two of them, who turned to look at him, giving their best deer in headlights impression. He stammered a little before apologizing for interrupting and ran back around the corner. Both Miles and Cecilia stayed still and held their breath in anticipation as the sound of the students footsteps faded. They simultaneously let out a massive sigh of relief before moving apart and sinking to the ground.  
"You still gonna try and shoot me?" Miles asked.  
"It's empty. I just wanted to see how you'd react." Cecilia replied as she stood up and dusted off her skirt.  
"You carry an empty revolver around with you?"  
"Of course not. Why do you think I was late for this?" They both remained in silence for awhile longer before Miles stood up and offered her a hand.  
"I'm part of an agency aligned with the nobility. We'd like the cooperation of the American embassy."  
"I'll let my uncle know." They shook hands and Cecilia retrieved her revolver.  
"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow." She muttered to herself.  
"Why?"  
"Our little stunt, while effective, is definitely going to have consequences."  
"Oh...right…" Miles replied, once again slamming his face into his palm.

Miles was the first to reach they're usual lunch spot. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to March or Isaac during classes, so this would be the perfect time to do so. He hadn't said anything to Cecilia either, though he had received some rather mischievous looks from his classmates. He wondered if word that the foreigner had a secret makeout session behind the gym with the shy kid had already spread. He had barely begun eating before Isaac came along and sat down across from him, pulling out his watch. He looked at it for awhile, completely ignoring Miles. Eventually Miles tried to say something.  
"I made contact with Cecilia after sch-"  
"She's a spy." Isaac still didn't look up from his watch  
"Yes! You suspected her too then right?" Miles was glad his comrade at least had the same thinking as he did.  
"No I was pretty skeptical." He still wasn't looking up from his watch.  
"Then how did you know?" Miles was beginning to get suspicious of Isaacs sudden extreme interest in his own watch.  
"Well funny story, as per plans I made around lunch yesterday, I was hanging out with a few friends after school, when I heard a strange sound coming from behind the gym. I sent one of said friends to investigate and lo and behold…." He finally looked up at Miles, the sly grin to end all sly grins spreading across his face.  
"I never imagined you would be so forward." Miles face planted into the table to as his face turned bright red.  
"Oh for god sake…" He mumbled to himself.  
"Anyways I made sure everyone in school knew about it by this time today." Isaac couldn't have sounded happier with himself.  
"Why….?" Gears had begun spinning in Miles' head slowly. Isaac was clearly building up to something, and whatever it was had him giddy.  
"Well to ensure that a certain someone heard it."  
"..." Miles stayed silent, a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead, his face still planted into the table.  
"Though the results were even better than I had hoped. She had already formulated a quite entertaining plan to make you talk. All I had to do was keep your attention and my reward was to get to watch."  
"Watch wha-" Miles looked up to find March's face directly in front of his.  
"This." She said before punching him square in the jaw. It was a fairly light punch, far from her worst, but unfortunately for Miles, he had begun standing up when she punched him, leading him to lose his balance and fall backwards right into the pond.  
"Whoops." March said as Isaac began laughing uncontrollably.


	7. Foreigners Part 5

Miles was acutely aware of the daggers being stared into his back as he, Isaac, and March approached the American Embassy. Despite knocking him into the pond, March was still fairly cross with him. Cecilia had told them after school to meet her that night at the embassy to talk with her Uncle. The sun had just set as they approached. The embassy was well guarded, with guards on every corner of the large wall surrounding the building. There were two guards at the entrance gate as well. As the three arrived at the gate one of the guards approached them.  
"I'm sorry but the embassy is currently closed." Miles, March and Isaac shared confused glances.  
"Closed?" Miles replied skeptically.  
"Uh...well Yes there is um...an important meeting happening, so we aren't allowing anyone on the premises." Isaac looked at the guards on the corners of the wall, who were all carefully eyeing them. The three of them exchanged glances.  
"Okay, we'll come back tomorrow." March said politely before the three of them left. As soon as they were out of sight they quickly scaled to the top of a nearby building and found one of Isaac's stashes. Isaac pulled out a telescope and he began looking through the windows of the embassy. They carefully jumped between the surrounding buildings to get a look through different windows. The embassy itself was too far away for them to simply jump from the nearest building, and that wall was too high to scale, as well as too high to see through the windows from the adjacent streets.  
"They didn't make that place very easy to get into" March muttered as they moved around to get another view. Most of the windows either had their shades drawn or had no one visible from inside until Miles looked into what seemed to be a kitchen judging by the pots and pans. He swore under his breath before handing the telescope over to the others.  
"We have a situation."

 _Earlier_

"They came to you at school of all places?" Cecilia couldn't tell if Mr. Craft was dismayed or impressed. He was often hard to read, even to her.  
"Yes sir." Mr. Craft stroked his beard thoughtfully.  
"You don't think they know about...that do they?"  
"No sir, they seemed to represent the nobilitys networks rather than the representatives of the nobility you met with." he thought in silence as Cecilia continued standing at attention.  
"I wonder what they want with us then. I hope they aren't planning to enlist our aid in any war efforts considering everyone's current positions. Did this agent of theirs give any clues as to what they would ask of us?"  
"No sir." Another silence.  
"And what about the commonwealth spy that approached you? Did they give any hints about their agenda?"  
"No sir." Mr. Craft sighed.  
"Ugh... these damn brits. You're dismissed." Cecilia saluted and began walking out of the office.  
"Oh and Cecilia?"  
"Yes sir?"  
"Remember why you're here. These nations and their special interests are none of your concern."  
"I know sir." She said as she opened the door, only to find herself held at gunpoint by a man wearing a mask.  
"Your mansion is too large Mr. Craft. It took me and my associates far to long to secure every room." The man spoke in a carefree voice, matching his deceptively happy mask, which sported a smile shaped mouth hole and two rectangular eye holes. As his focused switched to Cecilia's Uncle, she quickly grabbed the gun and his neck, throwing him on the ground, but just as he hit the ground, she was bashed in the back of her head by the butt of a rifle.

 _Later_

"Ugh why can't all of your stashes carry all of our gear! We've wasted far too much time!" Isaac said as he fitted his last knife in place on his belt. The trio had to run to several different stashes in order to accumulate their full sets of gear.  
"I can't leave everything in there, what if some random kid finds them?" Miles shot back.  
"Enough you two. We still need a plan. We can't scale that wall, and it's too far to jump from one of the roofs."  
"We may not be able to scale it but we can probably get over it with some rope. The problem is the guards" They all thought for a moment before Isaac chuckled.  
"Think it's time to try out one of Flasks newest concoctions."

Samuel hated sitting outside playing guard. He had been told the mission could take some time but this was getting ridiculous. Hopefully they could get what they need and leave soon. He didn't join to just stand at attention as a fake guard, and it didn't help that his outfit was way too tight. Out of nowhere, he felt a small prick on his neck. He felt around the area and pulled out a small needle. Almost immediately, he began to feel lightheaded, and fell to the ground. He heard the guards at the other corners rush over. As they were standing over him, unsure what to do, he could clearly see three kids come out of an alley, silently hurl a hooked rope over the wall, and climb over before any of the other guards turned around. Samuel tried to speak, but couldn't move a muscle, losing consciousness soon after.

Miles fell on a rather unforgiving pile of rose bushes, then Isaac and March fell on him. Luckily the courtyard was clear, because their entrance was everything but inconspicuous.  
"Ow..." Miles whimpered.  
"Looks like they don't have enough men to cover the inner courtyards." Isaac said as they looked around.  
"Which is good for us. Nothing to get in the way." March replied, a hint of anticipation in her voice.  
"Will you two get off of me?!" Miles hissed as he pushed them off.


	8. Foreigners Part 6

The three dashed to the side of the house, luckily also surrounded by thick bushes. The movement caught the eye of one of the guards at the gate, but before he could investigate was interrupted by one of the other guards relaying what had happened to the one they had knocked out. They brought him just inside the courtyard and lay him in the bushes out of site before going back to their posts, and the three dashed out of sight. The guards didn't alert anyone inside, leaving the three intruders shaking their head in disbelief.  
"These lackeys certainly are...lacking." Isaac muttered. March covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, and Miles snickered as quietly as he could.  
"Shut up." He said, unable to hide his smile. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure.  
"Alright. As we saw on the roof, we have a hostage situation. We need to find out what they want, how many of them are there, and how many hostages there are. Finding The Ambassador is our top priority." The three dropped the joking facade and began to outlay their options.  
"Isaac, you try to find The Ambassador. March, you're in charge of recon. Use the listening device Flask provided to gather information without being seen on this side of the building. I'll learn what I can from the other side. We come back here in no less than three minutes. Any longer and we will go in throwing caution to the wind, hostages be damned." They nodded in agreement and split off to their respective jobs.

The ground floor windows were easy to hear through. March went below the kitchen window and listened she distinctly heard two sets of feet pacing back and forth. From the window they had seen several maids and butlers tied up, along with another person lying unconscious but not fully in sight.  
"The boss is taking too long. We need to hurry this up."  
"Agreed. This dumb costume is way too hot."  
"What do you mean costume?" March heard a maid speak up in disbelief.  
"You think I want to wear this stupid commonwealth clothing because I think it's stylish. Shut your trap." There was a slapping sound, and March had to repress her urge to jump in and clobber the two men inside. Moving around to the other windows, she heard nothing, but spotted light coming from the second story window. Isaac had already climbed onto the roof and made a motion towards the window now below him. March decided now was the best time to use her new toy. She pulled out the device. It had the hearing part of a phone on one end of a long wire, with a small sticky bud on the other end. March tossed the budded end as close to the window as she could without hitting it. If she hit the window, things would not go well. Luckily it stuck just below the window. March breathed a sigh of relief as she put the other end up to her ear. What she heard was not good.

"Really now Mr. Craft I don't know why you insist on being this difficult." The masked man said as he circled around the bound ambassador. Pausing for a brief moment, he bashed The Ambassador repeatedly with a cane with a surprising harshness contrasting his carefree demeanor on display but a moment earlier. After he finished he paused before resuming his circling.  
"Where are they Mr. Craft?" He said in a sing songy voice, lifting his chin up.  
"Screw you, you masked piece of sh-" The masked man squished The Ambassadors cheeks together before he could finish his insult.  
"Haven't we been over this already? My name is Sterling." He said, releasing The Ambassador and tapping him playfully on the head with his cane.  
"You think just because you take the name of my former partner that makes you scary?"  
"Part...ner?" The latter half came with a tone of pure disgust out of Sterlings mouth.  
"You call him that after what you did to him? Such a man deserved better than a lying thief like you! You stole what was his! What is rightfully mine! Now I demand you give it back you sniveling piece of garbage!" Sterling once again bashed The Ambassador repeatedly, once again swinging wildly to a different demeanor. After he finished. He resumed his circling once more.  
"Your insane." The ambassador mumbled.  
"Probably." Sterling replied in a chillingly casual tone.

Miles quickly checked every window around the building, seeing no trace of anyone else in the building. Breathing a small sigh of relief. He headed back to meet up with March and Isaac.


	9. Foreigners Finale and Epilogue

Sterling's patience was beginning to grow thin. He had been at this interrogation for long enough already, but The Ambassador showed no signs of cracking. Sighing heavily he walked over to the now unconscious girl lying near the doorway and dragged her towards The Ambassador by her arm.  
"This girl is your niece or what have you right?" Sterling said as he drew a pistol from within his trench coat and aimed it at her head. The Ambassador chuckled lightly, causing Sterling to fire a shot a few inches from her head in response.  
"I am not joking here Mr. Craft!" He knew his time remaining had just dropped significantly. People would've heard that shot. He watched the door, waiting for one of his men to show up in response to the sound of gunfire, but no one came. Sterling immediately knew something was wrong. He took aim at The Ambassadors leg and shot him square in the knee.  
"WHERE ARE THE BLUEPRINTS YOU DAMNED THIEF?" No sooner had he finished his words than the girl whom he had assumed was unconscious on the floor leapt to her feet in an instant and hit him square across the jaw as he turned. His mask may have been metal, but he still felt the blow. He staggered back a few feet before she reached him again and twisted the gun out of his hand, then hitting him with a roundhouse kick to the chest. Sterling staggered back further, but regained his bearings. He blocked a kick aimed at his ribs with his cane and hit her square in the stomach. She fell back but was back on her feet before long. However Sterling had already pulled his ace. Pulling downward on the length of his cane he revealed the sword concealed within. The girl assumed a fighting stance but neither moved. Sterling had several other small throwing knives in his coat, but throwing one could only give her a weapon if she was as skilled as she seemed. He knew his whole operation was probably found out, and he had a window he could jump from right behind him, but he didn't dare turn his back to The Ambassadors pint sized protector. However as luck would have it, backup arrived.  
"Cecilia what the hell is-" A young masked boy wearing a bowler hat appeared in the doorway. The girl turned her head quickly, and Sterling seized the opportunity. Reaching into his coat, he threw one of his knives at the girl, it was hardly an accurate throw, but it didn't need to be. It cut the side one of her legs, and she fell to her knee with a cry of pain. He quickly turned and jumped straight out of the window behind him. His landing was less than graceful, but he quickly recovered and scaled the back wall, landing on the other side and disappearing into the night.

"And that's everything that happened." Miles said, concluding his story to Raven through the phone.  
"This doesn't bode well. It seems The Ambassador brought trouble from America with him." Raven's usually calm and sarcastic voice had become deadly serious.  
"You mean this Sterling guy?"  
"That is part of it yes. You're sure you heard a mention of 'blueprints' before you reached The Ambassador?" Raven asked. Miles had heard the yell as he was ascending the stairs of the building to where they had confirmed The Ambassador to be.  
"Absolutely, yes." Miles replied. Raven stayed silent for a moment.  
"Bones is currently investigating everything involving this incident. I suspect we will have much to discuss next time we meet. In the meantime, see what you can learn from his niece." Raven said as before promptly hanging up. Miles exited the phone booth and looked up into the sky before promptly cursing and trying to find shelter from the sudden torrent of rain. Everyone on the street brought out umbrellas and soon the sidewalks were a sea of colors. Miles had taken shelter under a shop awning when a girl with a black umbrella approached him. She held the umbrella low, obscuring her face, and she wore a school uniform Miles was unfamiliar with.  
"Do they not have rain on the White Lizard planet?" He recognized the deadpan voice immediately. He reached for his pistol but she pulled out another umbrella and moved it's point right to his throat.  
"I doubt I need to tell you what will happen if you pull out your weapon." The girl continued. Miles swallowed hard and let go of his firearm. Miles' mind raced. Was it tipped with poison? Was there a gun hidden in the handle?  
"So what do you want lizard girl." He said, trying to remain calm.  
"You were at The American Embassy recently weren't you?" Miles stayed silent, and the girl continued.  
"I just thought you would want to know that the Black Lizard planet had nothing to do with the attack that took place."  
"We're aware. We overheard it from some of attackers." A small smile flashed for an instant across the girls face before disappearing just as quickly.  
"Then we have nothing to worry about for now." She replied. A thought occurred to Miles.  
"So I guess my cover is blown then…" He moaned, knowing he might as well be dead if the enemy knew who he really was.  
"Only I know who you actually are, and I've been asked to keep it that way." She said. Miles raised an eyebrow.  
"Your just gonna let an enemy spy go?" She didn't respond, but instead flipped the umbrella around, giving him the handle.  
"Take it. You'll catch a cold otherwise."  
"Your giving me your weapon?" Miles asked, dumbfounded.  
"It's not a weapon. It's just a harmless umbrella." This time the smile that appeared stayed on her face as he took the umbrella and she backed away into the sea of  
umbrellas, disappearing in an instant. Miles looked over the umbrella. Sure enough, it was just a harmless umbrella.  
"God damn spies." He grumbled before opening it and heading back to his school.


	10. A Romantic(?) Interlude Part 1

It was Monday, and Miles and Isaac sat in their dorms common room, hard at work studying. They both had been trained on how to not stand out in their work. Don't draw attention with your intelligence, but don't look like you aren't trying either, Matron had been very thorough in that lesson. It was a surprisingly hard habit to break, or at the very least endure since Miles had to actively ensure he didn't get the right answer even though he could figure it out easily. The homework probably took longer because of that. No one else was around, with the only sound being the scribbling of their pens.  
"So when are you going to stop pretending you don't see how my sister feels about you?" Miles stopped writing abruptly and slowly looked up at Isaac, who hadn't even stopped moving his pen on the math equation he had been working on.  
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Miles said as he looked back down at his own paper and attempted to resumed his work.  
"I know you aren't that dense. You would have never been able to become a spy otherwise." Isaac prodded, his tone still annoyingly devoid of any discernible emotion. Miles was having a harder time focusing, and had misspelled a word on his paper. He irritably crumpled it up and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.  
"What are you getting at?" Miles asked, moving his papers aside and putting both elbows on the table, more than a little annoyed.  
"No denial this time?" Isaac replied as he calmly moved aside his work and looked up at Miles, flipping his pen around his fingers. His expression was neutral, though by Isaac's standards that was the equivalent of him openly brandishing his knives. Miles decided that denial wasn't his best choice of action.  
"Are you asking how I feel about March?"  
"Yup." Isaac said, his expression unwavering.  
"I never took you for the overprotective big brother type." Miles said, in genuine disbelief at discovering the reason of his comrades inquiry.  
"March is the only thing that I care about in this entire world. I'm sure you don't have very much love for my uncle either, even if he was willing to let you live with us. He is nice, but it's obvious he would cut ties with our organization if he could, including kicking all three of us out." Miles nodded in agreement. It's true Duke Arc would probably be better off without the three of them.  
"I'm not getting out of this one am I?" Miles replied dejectedly.  
"Nope." The last person Miles wanted to talk about this with was Isaac.  
"Well I...I...feel the same way as she does." Miles said, looking away and rubbing his neck nervously. When he looked back, Isaac had a small surprisingly genuine smile on his face.  
"Well then, I expect a confession by the end of this week."  
"Pardon?"  
"Confess to her by the end of the week or else there will be….consequences…" Isaac's genuine smile gave away to an unflattering villainous grin. Miles groaned and face planted into his desk. He heard Isaac chuckle a bit before clearing his throat and getting back to his homework. This was going to be a complicated week.


	11. A Romantic(?) Interlude Finale

"You are really bad at this aren't you?" Isaac said to Miles, who was endlessly pacing. Why did he choose the back of the gym building? Remembering his encounter with Cecilia made it all the more difficult to concentrate on what he was going to say this time around. Isaac had insisted on following him there, but had promised to leave the moment March showed up. His mischievous smile only made Miles more nervous, which was probably the point. Isaac's inner sadist always reared its head at the worst times.  
"Uh, Miles?" Miles stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. Isaac had disappeared without him realizing, and March was standing at the corner, head tilted in confusion.  
"Hey!" Miles said, his voice cracking, prompting him to turn away from her and take a few deep breaths. Good god, this was stressful than some of his most dangerous missions, even though he was almost certain about her answer. March laughed as quietly as possible, obviously enjoying his discomfort. Miles silently realized this must be karma for all the time he pretended to be oblivious to how she felt.  
"So...um...the reason I called you out her was...um…" Miles was beginning to mentally smack himself across the face for being such a blubbering mess. He was a spy for gods sake! Subterfuge and aloofness were supposed to be his forte! Taking a few more deep breaths, he managed to regain his composure using a technique Raven had taught him. Closing his eyes, he visualized a feather falling towards him, being affected by his breathing. He matched his breathing to keep it steady before opening his eyes and turning around. Only to find March mere inches away from his face. Turning bright red he spun around again. How the hell was she so composed? Usually she was the one being flustered! Miles' inner monologue was beginning to fly out of control again when March slowly wrapped her arm around his waist and held him close. His train of thought gradually slowed down as he felt her warmth on his back. A few moments passed.  
"Take your time." March said sofly, her head resting on his back. Taking a few more deep breaths, Miles once again regained his composure.  
"March, will you-"  
"Yes." She didn't even let him finish her sentence, but immediately it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They stood there in complete silence for a minute, enjoying the moment.  
"So uh…" Miles said "Now what?" both of them stayed silent, as neither had thought that far ahead.  
"I guess we uh…hold hands?" March replied, slowly moving one of her hands to grasp his, though the moment they touched, they both jolted and went back to the way they were. It seemed she had reached her composure limit, and was regressing back to the way she usually was.  
"Well, no rule that says we have to start right away…" Miles added, laughing nervously.  
"Well as long as Cecilia knows you're mine I have no worries." March said, letting him go. He turned to face her, and she had a smile unlike any he had seen before. He couldn't help but smile as well. They began walking back to the dorms, and when they got there, they realized they had somehow ended up holding hands, much to the amusement of Isaac, who had begun mockingly showering them with flower petals halfway there.


	12. Contact Part 1

Several days passed before the trio were called back to their base. Not much had changed between them, though there was much less teasing of March and Miles individually and more as a couple. The three of them entered the base to see Matron, Flask, and Bones arguing, with Raven watching from the sidelines.  
"This is an obvious trap and I can't believe you are even entertaining the idea that we go through with it." Flask snapped at Matron.  
"Our hands are tied, while they claim they will not act upon the information they have we can't be sure that won't change should our interests diverge from each other." Bones interjected. Matron sat quietly, not at all disturbed by the man criticizing her. Miles recognized her current state as 'we both know I am right so I'm just going to let you make an idiot of yourself while you try to claim otherwise'. It was a mode Miles was very familiar with. Matron was slow to anger, but quick to retaliate should the need arise. She had demonstrated as much when she trained the three of them. Raven loudly cleared his throat to signal the men to settle down, which they begrudgingly did when they saw Miles, March, and Isaac had arrived. The three at the table were silent while Bones silently contemplated how best to approach the matter.  
"We recently received an anonymous message from someone we believe is aligned with the commonwealth. They asked us to send you three to meet with their so called 'benefactor', threatening to expose your identities."  
"Which we believe they have." Matron added, sending a scathing glare at Miles. Miles wouldn't have been surprised if she knew it was his identity that had been compromised.  
"So where will we meet?" Isaac asked bluntly, swiftly cutting through any objections to going. Flask had seemingly resigned his protest during the conversation, as he didn't speak out again.  
"They have given us 3 chances to make contact. Starting tomorrow, a boat will be crossing under a bridge not far from here. You are to board it and enter the cabin." It did seem like the most obvious trap ever. March silently and subtly grabbed Miles' hand, squeezing it tight.  
"Though they also gave us a gift that we are currently studying…" Bones said, motioning to Flask. Flask nodded, reached beside him and put a small baseball sized mechanical device on the table. He flicked a switch and it grew green, slowly floating in the air. He grabbed hold of it and floated upwards at the same speed. Miles jaw dropped as he recognized its effect, it was the same as that girls! He mentally cursed at the girl who was once again somehow one step ahead of him. Flask switched the device off, and he fell back onto his chair.  
"Now as far as I can tell, this is a very early prototype, and is very unstable. However in 3 days I should be able to make it usable."  
"Can you make more of them?" March asked. It's true with an unlimited supply of those devices, you could wreak total havoc in any fight. Flask shook his head.  
"I considered reverse engineering it, but it's seems to be intentionally adjusted to make it impossible to fully take apart. I suspect this is probably an early version of something that has already been improved. However I should be able to improve this specific one to be as functional as possible, I just can't duplicate it." There were equal measures of annoyance and respect as he talked about it. He didn't like being outsmarted, but he also couldn't help but respect the ingenuity of whoever made the device.  
"And that is all for now. Report back here in 3 days." Bones said. Miles, March, and Isaac turned to make their exit, but just as they were about to go out the window, Matron called after them.  
"We will also hopefully have some backup for you by then as well." Miles wasn't sure what kind of backup could be made on such short notice, but he figured if anyone could figure something out, it was her.


	13. Contact Part 2

The usual trio arrived in the usual way, but there was a distinctly unusual air in the room as they entered. Maybe it was the lack of conversation, or Ravens barely hidden look of suspicions being cast at Matron, or Matron self satisfied smile, but most likely, it was the fourth character sitting at the table. They wore mostly black in an outfit not that different from March's and wore a mask over the bottom half of their face, but the shoulder length chestnut hair coupled with the familiar green eyes was a dead giveaway to their real identity.  
"Cecilia?" Miles blurted out.  
"Good to see you too." She said nonchalantly.  
"Is she wearing my clothes?" March exclaimed, immediately storming towards Cecilia, who made no moves to respond to the openly hostile exclamation. March stopped just short of grabbing her when Matron said:  
"No. We merely used some of the spare materials from your uniforms to make this one." She stood up and paced around the table to stand between March and Cecilia.  
"I certainly hope you weren't planning to attack our new ally because they wore a similar outfit to you, were you?" The last two words were spoken with such an intensity that March involuntarily shrank away. She slowly turned and walked back to where Miles and Isaac still stood while Matron returned to her seat at the table.  
"As you have no doubt guessed, this girl is your new ally." Bones said, gesturing to Cecilia who gave March a mischievous wink.  
"Is it really a good idea to bring someone new on this important of a mission?" Isaac said, taking both Miles and March by surprise. Miles because he didn't expect Isaac to be so analytical and March because that is exactly what she was about to ask, though a split second after March realized that was probably intentional.  
"I've tested her myself." Raven said standing up from his chair in the corner and laying a hand on the table next to Cecilia, who remained unfazed, despite the hostility that radiated off of Raven. "I can assure all three of you that she is perfectly capable of handling herself. Her trainer is an old….acquaintance of mine" The word 'acquaintance' contained a mixture of annoyance and hatred as Raven spoke it.  
"There's definitely a history there." Isaac chuckled under his breath, but a glare from Raven made him stiffen back up.  
"Anyways…." Bones said in exasperated irritation. "It is time for you to make contact with our new…" He trailed off, unsure of what to actually call the people who they were going to meet. Cecilia stood up and approached Miles, Isaac and March.  
"Regardless of what they are, I'll be there with you. Cecilia Smith reporting for duty." She did a theatrical bow and turned back to the rest of the room.  
"No objections I presume?" before they could respond she leapt out the window and onto the roof.  
"Americans…" Bones grumbled.  
"The bridge is directly northwest of here. The boat should be there within the hour." Flask said, clearly having enjoyed the show. He stood up and gave Miles the fixed device. Quickly showing him how it worked, it was clear that Flask was still irritated that he couldn't reverse engineer it. With a final sigh, he left it in Isaacs hand and went back to his seat. Without another word, Isaac, March and Miles jumped out the window, following Cecilia.


	14. Contact Part 3

The four stood underneath the bridge, well hidden in the shadows. March had positioned herself discreetly between Isaac and Cecilia. They waited a few minutes in uncomfortable silence until Cecilia spoke up.  
"For the record, he's not my type."  
"Then what is your type?" Isaac asked, poking his head around Isaac.  
"Someone I don't work with." Cecilia retorted, looking at March and Miles smugly. The tension in the air eased slightly, and Miles let out an internal sigh of relief. A few more minutes passed in a slightly more manageable silence when a boat turned around the nearest corner on the river-way. It was a simple passenger boat, and astoundingly nondescript. Housing a single grey cabin, it looked like a fishing vessel. No other boats were anywhere to be seen as it slowed to a stop in front of them. They pulled up their masks and hopped on board as it resumed its cruise down the river.

They entered through a door at the back of the cabin to a room of complete darkness. As soon as they all entered, the door slam shut behind them and lights flicked on. Before Miles could even react he had a gun pressed to the back of his head. Across from them in the cabin stood several recognizable figures. Everyone from the commonwealth defector mission was there, plus one extra, a girl wearing a black hood that obscured her face. The rest of them had masks covering the bottom half of their faces, though the tallest one just wore driving goggles. Miles didn't even need to turn to know who had the gun against his head, it was the same girl who had gotten the better of him three times now. It was to his surprise then, that she lowered her gun and strode past them to stand by the hooded girls side. A small silence followed before Isaac spoke up.  
"Good to see you again half-pint, you interested in picking up where our last duel left off?" He said to the short one who was wearing a strange disk-like hat. She replied in a foreign language that Miles didn't know, but from her tone it was definitely not anything nice. The tallest girl let out a laugh as Miles' nemesis cleared her throat loudly.  
"Thank you for seeing us. I told you they would come." The hooded girl said, with the second sentence being addressed to the girl Miles was currently having a glaring contest with. Her courteous and regal tone took him by surprise, as it wasn't a very intimidating voice for a spy. The girl she addressed also seemed to lose her composure for a split second, but Miles wasn't entirely sure.  
"So are you their leader then?" he asked.  
"In a sense I suppose, but right now we have some important business to discuss. I trust you received our message?" Miles nodded in reply.  
"Splendid! Then I will just cut right to the chase. We would like to request your assistance in dealing with a certain volatile individual." She continued in a carefree tone. There was a stunned silence on Miles' side of the cabin.  
"You want our help?"


	15. Contact Finale

The question hung in the air for a brief moment, before the hooded girl continued.  
"Yes, we believe there is a conspiracy to incite a war between The East and The West, and would like your assistance in dealing with this threat." Isaac scoffed.  
"The Nobility and Commonwealth are at each other's throats already. Your presence here is proof enough of that. Some backwater spy like you isn't in a position to suggest an alliance you scum su-" as he spoke, Miles noticed his nemesis losing composure bit by bit before she rushed forward and grabbed Isaac by his shirt collar, thrusting him against the wall.  
"An- er...A! Stop!" The hooded girl called out before A could inflict any of her wrath onto Isaac, who smirked as A let him down and stormed back to her place beside the hooded girl.  
"So, You're not a spy are you?" Miles asked, addressing the hooded girl. She and A shared a glance.  
"No. I am not." Another silence descended. Cecilia coughed loudly.  
"As great as it is that both of you are trying to probe each other for information, can we get this over with?" All of the commonwealth spies turned to her.  
"You're American?" the hooded girl asked. Cecilia responded by crossing her arms and loudly tapping her foot on the floor.  
"We believe the threat has come from America." The hooded girl continued. Cecilia's tapping stopped. Miles was hoping she wasn't too much of a yank to blow this whole operation skyward because of this.  
"Your proof?" Isaac asked.  
"You saw what those men that attacked the American embassy were wearing. That was just a first inciting incident, enough to put both sides on edge. We believe their next move will be to cause a disaster and lead both sides to blame each other, leading to a war." Miles thought back to the embassy mission. Sure enough, their stories made sense, except…  
"What do the Americans have to gain from starting a foreign war?" Miles asked.  
"Your friend may have an idea." All eyes turned to Cecilia, who let out a long sigh of annoyance.  
"America has long been behind in the technological application of Cavorite, despite that, we have massive deposits of it. If another war broke out, it could lead to an overseas demand of Cavorite, which America would be more than happy to fill in exchange for technology and capital." Yet another silence.  
"We will discuss your sudden relation to this later." Miles muttered to Cecilia through gritted teeth before forcing his composure back.  
"Alright. So what do you suggest?"  
"Take this letter to your superiors." A said, throwing a sealed envelope to Miles.  
"Why not deliver this along with your little offering?"  
"I think first impressions are most effective when done in person." The hooded girl replied cheerfully. A rolled her eyes. Just then, the boat slowed to a stop.  
"This is where you get off." A said. Isaac, March and Cecilia all looked to Miles, who turned and left without a word.


End file.
